


Out From Centerfield

by Mirror_Face



Category: Dangan Ronpa - All Media Types, New Dangan Ronpa V3: Everyone's New Semester of Killing, Super Dangan Ronpa 2
Genre: Alternate Universe - Non-Despair (Dangan Ronpa), Fluff, Gen, One Shot, Strangers to Friends, thanks sunflower_8, yes there is a piggyback ride
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-03
Updated: 2020-05-03
Packaged: 2021-03-01 19:01:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,988
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23991964
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mirror_Face/pseuds/Mirror_Face
Summary: Ryoma thought that today would be pretty normal.That was until one Ibuki Mioda dragged him into finding Mikan Tsumiki.It wasn't that bad.
Relationships: Mioda Ibuki & Hoshi Ryoma
Comments: 3
Kudos: 20





	Out From Centerfield

**Author's Note:**

  * For [sunflower_8](https://archiveofourown.org/users/sunflower_8/gifts).



> Hello, I'm just here to thank sunflower_8 for being this fic's entire reason for being. I swear this was supposed to be shorter but everything just kind of spiraled out of control. I honestly wasn't entirely sure if I should've gifted this to you, a part of me was like 'two times is enough, stop annoying her' but another part of me is also like 'but she deserves another oneeeeee!' So I don't really know what to do. Luckily, that's how I am most of the time, so I have experience.
> 
> Basically, you asked for this, so you get to have it wrapped up and set on your doorstep! It's your Ryoma & Ibuki friendship fic!
> 
> So hopefully it's okay...

It had been a very normal day for Ryoma. Well, compared to a few other weird days, it was pretty normal. It was later in the afternoon and Ryoma was practicing his tennis, he was still quite rusty after his two year hiatus from the court and he needed all the practice he could get. 

Of course, his life at Hope’s Peak could never truly be uneventful. And so, a person (a girl who Ryoma distantly recalled to be an upperclassmen named Ibuki) ran onto the court in some kind of panic, just as Ryoma was hitting one of the tennis balls sent his way from one of the automatic machines. It hit her right on the head, knocking her down to the floor, dazed. He hoped she didn’t have a concussion. 

Ryoma walked over to Ibuki’s fallen body and stood next to her. He would’ve offered her his hand, but the height difference would’ve made it difficult. “Uh, hey, kid? Are you okay?”

Instantly, Ibuki sprung up, eyes wide and a bump growing on her head. Her mouth opened and she blubbered a bit before yelling out, “Ryoma! You need to help Ibuki find Mikan!”

He moved back in surprise, “Why, exactly?”

“Because Ibuki’s lost track of her. Poor Mikan probably doesn’t know her way around! What if she got lost?”

“Hasn’t she gone to this school for almost three years?”

“You don’t know how easily Mikan gets lost! Ibuki does though, and she knows that Mikan has probably tripped down the stairs!”

“Why are you asking me for help. Don’t you have, I don’t know, other classmates to ask?”

“Yep! But someone told Ibuki that Ryoma has amazing tracking skills.”

“Oh really? And who was that?”

“Kokichi!”

Ryoma stopped himself from swearing, “Of course he did…”

Not giving Ryoma any more time to sulk around, Ibuki leaped up, spun around, and slid her arm around his, all in one fatal move. It was so surprising that Ryoma couldn’t even flash step, or react at all before Ibuki had them both heading towards the door of his talent lab.

“Kid, I’m pretty sure you’ve been lied to. I’m really no master tracker or anything. You might as well just let me go.” They had now stopped moving, and Ryoma was sure he would be set free.

But, it seemed that Ibuki wouldn’t give up that easily as her face formed what could only be described as the pout of a disciplined child, and before Ibuki could even say anything, Ryoma knew his fate was sealed. He couldn’t do anything but cave, “Fine, I’ll help.” It wasn’t like he had anything particularly important to do anyways.

Ibuki yelled out “Yeah!” in excitement as Ryoma let himself be dragged along (their drastic height difference causing him to fly a little as she sped towards his talent lab’s exit).

After five minutes of dragging Ryoma around without a plan (and without even touching the ground, in Ryoma’s case), it was clear that Ibuki was quite lost. Finally, she stopped running and dropped him to the floor.

“Uh, kid? Do you know where we’re going?”

“Well, Ibuki’s not entirely sure where we should be looking first.” Ibuki said, scratching her head nervously, before instantly perking back up again, “But wandering through the unknown is fun! It’s kind of like an adventure!”

Honestly, Ryoma had no idea how the girl could bounce back so fast, it almost gave him whiplash. “So, you have no idea where to start.”

“Hmmm, well, maybe Mikan’s in the nurse’s office? But that would be way too obvious!”

“Does that mean that you haven’t even checked there yet?”

“No, Ibuki has! But maybe Mikan left for lunch when Ibuki came to visit and showed up as soon as Ibuki left?”

“Sounds like a comedy skit.” Ryoma grumbled under his breath before taking initiative, “I don’t think she’s in the nurse’s office. Maybe we should check the courtyard or somethin’.”

“Oooh!” Ibuki perked up, “That’s a great idea, Ryoma! No wonder Ibuki chose you for the job.”

And so, off they went to the courtyard, wandering the halls as they did. Ryoma has been expecting Ibuki to instantly dive into conversation, but she simply hummed beside him as she walked. Her hands swung up and down, loose as she moved.

Probably way too invested in the entire situation, Ryoma couldn’t help but wonder out loud, “How did you even lose track of Mikan in the first place. I doubt that you’re that difficult to pick out, even in a crowd.”

“I don’t know! She was just gone. Whooshed away by the wind!”

“Did you turn away from her?” He doubted that Mikan had just disappeared right in front of her eyes.

“Yep! Ibuki spinning in the crowded hallway and when she stopped Mikan was gone!”

Ryoma wasn’t even going to bother asking  _ why  _ Ibuki was spinning. Even if there was a reason, it was none of his business anyways. “That’s… interesting.”

They were (surprisingly) silent for a minute before Ibuki gave out an impatient groan, “We need to go faster.”

“Why?”

“We don’t know what’s happened to Mikan. Maybe she really  _ has  _ tripped down the stairs!”

“Or, she may just be busy.” He pressed.

“But wouldn’t she tell Ibuki?”

Ryoma shrugged, “Maybe, never met the girl.”

“Well then, Ibuki knows best!” Then she bent down a little in front of him.

He quirked his eyebrows in confusion.

“Come on, Ryoma! You have to get on my back!”

Ryoma simply stared at her, deadpan, “Why?”

“Because your tiny legs won’t match Ibuki’s stride!” She whined, “Also, Ibuki’s always wanted to give someone a piggyback ride before!”

He could’ve refused. He wanted to refuse. But this kid was so goddamn happy, it was hard to refuse her anything. Ryoma sighed. He was probably making a mistake, but her bright personality was already blinding him, so how much worse could she do?

“Fine…”

Ibuki whooped as she helped him get on her back. Internally, Ryoma groaned. He couldn’t believe he was doing this, if any of his classmates saw him (particularly Kokichi) he was going to die. It wasn’t like he had a social life to keep track of, but he still would like to keep some part of his pride intact. And yet, he still let her help him get onto her back. 

It was high there, and he was probably a little bit taller than the average person. A new experience that was fairly exciting, although Ryoma had never been particularly good at expressing that emotion. Ibuki, however, made up for it.

“Woohoo! The mighty Ibuki shall save you all! This is suuuuuuper amazing!”

“Yeah…”

“Come on Ryoma, forward to Mikan!”

“To the courtyard, I suppose.”

He wasn’t surprised to see the weird looks coming their way. Ibuki ignored them, so did he- and she skipped through the halls, Ryoma balancing on her back.

Then, finally, they were outside. The courtyard was fairly empty, aside from a reserve course kid and a girl playing a video game by the fountain. He couldn’t see Mikan (and he could see a lot from his high up position).

Ibuki groaned when she realized that Mikan probably wasn’t there, but she didn’t lose face. “Ibuki’s sure we’ll find Mikan around somewhere!”

“Maybe you could ask someone where they last saw her?”

“Ah, good idea!”

And she ran to the two kids sitting at the edge of the fountain (Ryoma bounced up and down on her back). “Hey! Hey! Chiaki, Hajimeee!

The reserve course boy looked up, annoyance flashing through his eyes before it disappeared and he smiled tentatively. The girl didn’t even look up from her console.

The boy glanced up curiously at Ryoma, who waved back halfheartedly. “Yeah, Ibuki?”

“Have you seen Mikan anywhere?”

“I’m not allowed in the main building, why are you even asking me?”

“Uh…” She became slightly nervous, “Well, that was a  _ slight  _ oversight on Ibuki’s part…”

The boy sighed, seemingly used to this type of behavior. “Chiaki?”

“Hmm… I saw her on the second floor, well I think. She could just be with Tenko, since her lab’s on that floor.” Chiaki punctuated her sentence with a yawn.

“Yay! Thank you, Chiaki~! Bye-bye Hajime!”

Hajime once again glanced at Ryoma with a questioning gaze, and was probably about to ask something about his presence on Ibuki’s back- however, he simply shook his head and waved goodbye.

(Which just reminded Ryoma of how lucky he was that no one from his class had seen him yet.)

The journey upstairs was both upbeat and filled with chatter (on mostly Ibuki’s side). The girl had seemingly decided that she wanted to learn everything she could around him.

“What’s your favorite animal?”

“Cats, I suppose.”

“Oooh, cats are nice. But Ibuki likes more than one animal, because she thinks that a lot of them are super cool!”

  
  
  


“What’s your favorite type of music?”

“Jazz, I guess.”

“That seems like a very Ryoma-y Ryoma thing, indeed. Ibuki is a conosier of all music! She doesn’t ‘favor’ music, she just different music depending on the weather!”

  
  
  


“Are you tired of carrying me yet?”

“No no no! Running is Ibuki’s hobby, and she jumps around on stage a lot, this is nothing to Ibuki!”

“Whatever you say, kid”

  
  
  


(He would be lying if he said that it wasn’t enjoyable.)

Finally, after their long, tiring adventure- they’d made it to the second floor of the school. And it was at that time that Ryoma asked to be put down, the piggyback ride was fun while it lasted, but he did not want to be harrassed by Tenko. Ibuki complained a bit, but did as requested once she saw his unimpressed look.

It was much easier than expected to reunite Ibuki and Mikan once they knew where to look, they just walked over to where Tenko’s talent lab was. Ryoma knew the way, so he just instructed Ibuki where to go.

Mikan, not-so-surprisingly, was there, standing quietly outside of Tenko’s lab.

“Mikan!” And Ibuki ran to Mikan with as much fervour as someone finding a long-lost friend (Ryoma had to remind himself that it had only been an hour since they'd last seen each other). 

“Oh Ibuki! I was so worried when I lost you!” He was pretty sure that Mikan was crying.

And a few seconds later, she was being glomped by Ibuki in a giant hug (Ryoma flinched just looking at it). “Ibuki thought you had died!”

“More specifically,” he’d added in, “fallen down the stairs.”

Finally noticing that Ryoma was there, Mikan flinched and she stuttered out, “W-well I pr-probably would have if-if Tenko hadn’t found m-me.”

Ryoma glanced around, “Where is Tenko anyways?”

“Sh-she went to the bathroom.”

“Well then, I better go before she catches me here.” He really was not in the mood to deal with her yelling.

“What! Before even hearing how Mikan got lost? Aren’t you super duper curious?”

“Not really. Just glad that you found your friend, kid.”

“Awww… At least tell Ibuki how she’ll find you again.”

Ryoma gave Ibuki a look, “You know my class, and where my lab is.”

“Yeah, but… hmm.” Ibuki stopped talking, and looked thoughtful for a moment, before digging into one of her black, fingerless gloves, taking out a small slip of paper. “See? Look, it’s Ibuki’s phone number!” She handed him the paper.

He took it with little hesitation. (Ryoma didn’t question it, he hadn’t in a long while.) “Thanks, I guess.”

“You can’t actually call Ibuki yet though, since she accidently smashed her phone the other day… But she’ll get another one soon, and then she’ll teach you to play the tambourine!”

He waved her off and walked away, paper in his jacket pocket. “Just don’t lose your friend again.”

“Yes sir!” 

(Ryoma ignored the fond smile that was growing on his lips.)

  
  
  


It was a surprisingly good day.

**Author's Note:**

> Two fun facts and one joke that never made it into the story:
> 
> While Ibuki hasn’t ever given anyone a piggyback ride before Ryoma, the Imposter has given her many during her (almost) three years at Hope’s Peak.
> 
> You may have noticed that Ryoma’s candy cigarette wasn’t in this story. He had it for his first few months in Hope’s Peak, but he got tired of Taka mistaking it for a real cigarette.
> 
> There was going to be a joke about Chiaki having benevolent god powers, but it didn’t make the cut.


End file.
